Pemalite Chronicles I: Last Thing on my Mind
by AniDragon aka Riona-chan
Summary: Rules are important in games, this cannot be denied... But what happens when the rules are forgotten? Old timelines that should have been wiped out reappear, and the game becomes much more interesting... Warnings: Slight AU and original characters
1. Prologue: Innocence

(A/N: If I have to rewrite this fic one more time I'll probably explode... But I know I'll probably end up doing it anyway, because this is the only one of my fics that receives the same treatment as my original stories. Which means tons of editing. Joy. Thank you to Queen of Roses for beta-reading! .) 

(Disclaimer: Animorphs and it's characters belong to K. A. Applegate. No profit is being made off of this fic as it is for entertainment purposes only. A'Casta, Sonia, Sonia's family and the story behind the fic, however, belong to me. Steal and die.)

(Warnings: AU (since it's set while the war is still going on) and Original Character warning probably being the biggest one here. Additional warnings will be added if needed.)

**Pemalite Chronicles I: Last Thing on my Mind (prologue)**  
**Innocence**

**by: AniDragon, aka Riona-chan**

* * *

My name is A'Casta. 

Toomin, my creator, is the one who gave me this name. He said it had a special meaning, but I've forgotten it. There are a great many things that I forget.

Toomin says that this is my nature. I forget things because remembering them would ruin what he calls my "innocence", which is vital in The Game.

The Game is all I know. I am to play the game against The Eye until Toomin decides there is no more need for me to do so.

Toomin told me the rules of the game, but I've forgotten those as well. So, I make up my own rules. It's more fun that way anyway, and what's a game worth if it's not fun?

Even though I'm allowed to play with the same toys-- or "timelines", to use the word they do-- as Toomin and The Eye, my favorite toys are the androids and their creators. They are much more interesting then those shape-shifters and the howling things. They could make the game so much more fun if they had more of a role in it!

So I was going to give them a bigger role. Because I wanted the game to be more fun.

"Shall we immerse?" The Eye asked Toomin and I.

"On the other side," we answered in one voice.

* * *

"Sonia! Did I leave any boxes in your room?" The girl being addressed rolled her eyes.

"For the last time, mom, no! All the boxes are in the moving van already!" she called back. Her mother appeared at the doorway and grinned.

"I'm just making sure. And are you sure you're okay with moving?"

"I'm sure," the girl answered, "Anything for Lily, right?"

"You're so sweet to your little sister. Now, get to bed. We'll have a long day ahead of us tomorrow."

Tomorrow. The big moving day.

The start of a cosmic game where the rules have been forgotten.

**End of Prologue**

**(A/N: Okay, so it's short, but it's a prologue, so it's allowed to be a little shorter. Anyway, I'm FINALLY getting my butt in gear to rewrite this fic... Again... And this time I'm hoping that it'll be a lot less Mary Sue. Wish me luck on that! lol. Anyway, I live off of feedback! Any kind of feedback. Compliments are treasured, criticism is always helpful, and flames are used to roast marshmallows.)**


	2. Chapter 1: No Good News

_(Warnings and Disclaimer same as last chapter. A BIG thank you once again to Queen of Roses for Beta-reading. You are teh awesome!)_

**Pemalite Chronicles I: Last Thing on My Mind (part 1)**  
**No Good News**

**by: AniDragon, aka Riona-chan**

* * *

My name is Erek. 

At least, that's my name right now. I've had many names over the course of my existence, though I doubt you'd be interested in knowing all of them..

I am what is known on Earth as an android. The others of my kind and I were created by a race called the Pemalites. We were originally toys, and later became companions when our creators incorporated artificial intelligence into our design that was so advanced we seemed alive. The Pemalites called us _Chee_.

Centuries ago, the Pemalites were wiped out by a race called the Howlers. We Chee have been on Earth since then, trying to live peacefully among humans.

The Yeerks ruined that peace for us. They began their silent invasion of the Earth and, if they're not stopped, they'll condemn the humans to an even worst fate then the Howlers gave to the Pemalites.

We Chee have been fighting the Yeerks to the best of our ability since we learned of their intentions; but our resistance is lacking in one major area: We were programmed to be non violent, like the Pemalites. It is possible to reprogram us, but as I've learned the hard way, being as we are protects our sanity. Many months ago I managed to alter myself to allow me to fight more effectively; I slaughtered a large number of people. They were my enemies, yes, but they were living creatures.

I reset the restriction as soon as the battle was over.

There are others who fight them - five humans and one andalite. They're the only ones other than the Chee who know of the Yeerks. They have the power to morph into any animal they touch.

They call themselves the Animorphs. And they were the ones I was heading to see.

I had spotted Rachel at the mall earlier in the day and told her that the group should arrange to meet back at Cassie's barn at 7 PM. I had important news for them. I stepped into the barn at seven sharp.

"Erek!" Marco exclaimed, "Bringer of good news! And it MUST be good news that you're bringing, right? I mean, the only reason you would _ever_ want to gather us together is for good news."

"I have some bad news," I said simply.

"I think I just lost all faith in you," Marco sighed.

I ignored Marco's comment. "One of ours is currently working as a stewardess; she's also one of the Chee who has been infiltrating The Sharing. According to her, the Yeerks are planning to use the airport to infest people. I don't know all the details, but it seems they've already started. Apparently it's working."

I watched their expressions as they absorbed this information. Cassie was thoughtful; probably trying to figure out which morph would be best. Rachel had a dangerous gleam in her eye that made me suspect she had battle in mind. Ax was looking toward Jake, awaiting orders. Jake looked pensive, calculating. And Marco...

Marco was watching me. He gave me a look like a parent disappointed in a child who has done something wrong.

"You can never bring us good news, can you?"

"It gets worse," I continued. "There's an important politician who's going to be taking a business trip three days from now. I think it goes without saying, but if he gets infested..." They could finish the sentence without my help. The more Controllers in political situations, the harder it was going to be to win the war.

Jake nodded decisively. "We'll make sure he isn't. Tomorrow's Saturday, so getting away to spy on the airport should be easy enough. Erek - if you have the time, we could use you there. The Yeerks think you're a Controller, so it won't seem strange if you're hanging around. Not to mention we could use your holograms if we run into a snag."

I grinned. "No problem; spying is my speciality." And with that, the meeting ended.

* * *

We met at the airport the next day, as planned. It didn't take long once we were there to realize that we wouldn't learn anything useful unless we got onto a plane or found a way to blend in with the employees. This wouldn't be too hard to do with my holograms, but we still had to be careful. 

"How about luggage?" Rachel suggested. "Sneak onto the luggage carrier, then let them load us on?"

"I can't make a solid hologram that big," I said. "We'd get caught when they go to pick us up. However..." I reached into my bag and took out 7 rectangle pieces of paper; I held them up for Rachel to see. "I happen to know a little bit about counterfeit. We just need to pick a flight, and I can imprint the information on these."

"You know," Marco said, "It would be so easy for us to become some sort of criminal organization. I bet Erek could make some pretty convincing counterfeit money; we could be rich."

"I was a counterfeiter in another life," I told him. "It wasn't too exiting -- especially knowing I wouldn't get caught. I can duplicate anything down to its molecules. The money I made might as well have been real." They all stared at me.

"What? The economy isn't alive; it's not against my programming to hurt it."

"You can be a scary person sometimes, Erek, my man." Marco slowly shook his head. Again I ignored him.

I pointed to a display screen. "There's a flight leaving for Toronto in half an hour. Shall we use that one?"

"To-ron-to... Ron-to," Ax pronounced slowly. "I have not heard of this place, though I have been studying Earth geography… A-phy. I do not believe it is part of the United States of America."

"You're right, it's in a country above us, called Canada," Cassie told him.

"Canada, eh?" Marco commented.

"Shut up, Marco." Rachel rolled her eyes at him. "That flight's fine, Erek. Everything else leaves in 3 hours... I'd rather get this done quick."

"Toronto it is, then," Jake said.

We made our way closer to the gate where the plane was loading, and I caught a glimpse of someone else's ticket. That glimpse was all I needed. To everyone around me, it looked like I was writing in a journal; I was actually creating our fake tickets using the rectangular paper. It didn't seem like there were enough people on this flight to worry about having enough seats, and I knew enough about airport security to make sure the tickets would clear.

Half an hour later, we were on our way to Toronto.

**End of part 1**

****


	3. Chapter 2: Not the Same

_(Warnings and Disclaimer still apply.)_

**Pemalite Chronicles I: Last Thing on My Mind**** (part 2)**  **Not the Same**

**by: AniDragon, aka Riona-chan**

I noticed, belatedly, that I had forgotten to forge passports for everyone. The security officer glared at us as I "looked for them in my carry-on". It didn't take me long to make them and show them to him, but the delay had called some attention to us.

It worried me that something so simple had slipped my processor. I didn't mention this worry to the Animorphs, though. It was my own problem, after all, not theirs.

The flight was fairly uneventful, however. There were a few known controllers on the flight, but none of them seemed to pay any attention to us, and there wasn't any sign of potential infestation activity. Tobias and Ax had a hard time demorphing and remorphing. Tobias at least had the convenience that hawks weren't very big, so the plane's bathroom had plenty of room for him. Ax wasn't so lucky, and it was a tense few minutes when I needed to spread my hologram around him to give him the privacy he needed.

I could see the irritation on some of the Animorphs' faces when we arrived at the Toronto Airport, and there was likely a similar look on the illusion of my own face.

"Maybe they were just sticking to local flights?" Cassie suggested when we had found a quiet place to talk, "After all, they're mostly concentrated in America, right?"

I shook my head, "They _are_ mostly concentrated in America, but that doesn't mean that there aren't pools in other countries. There _are_ controllers who need to travel, and Toronto's a big city. There's most definitely a pool here, so there's no reason why they would have skipped that flight."

Jake shrugged, "Maybe we just didn't look hard enough. We'll take the flight back in morph… Fly would be the easiest idea, as long as we stay out of sight," He shuddered on that last sentence. I'd heard about his bad experience the last time he'd been a fly on a plane.

Rachel nodded, then punch the palm of her hand, "We'll get them on the way back, definitely."

We quieted down when a family came within hearing range. From the glance I got of their tickets, they were scheduled for the flight we'd be taking back to our state.

I was worried that they'd overheard, for a moment, when the mother glanced in my direction, but I then realized that she was looking past me at a vending machine when she got up and walked by me to get a chocolate bar.

When it was near the time to board the return plane, the Animorphs one by one left to go the "bathroom", and returned as flies, landing on my shoulders. I still had my fake passport, and I crafted a return ticket easily. I also made a quick stop to the bathroom to pick up their outer clothing and store them in a small bag I'd brought with me.

Once on the plane a controller who knew me from the Sharing approached me. His host's name was Brian.

"Erek!" He exclaimed, "I didn't know you were over here this weekend."

"Family stuff," I lied easily, "My aunt is sick."

"Ah, I know how that is," He nodded, "But hey, since you're here, we could use your help out back."

I masked a look of confusion. I wasn't supposed to know about this project, after all, "Out back?"

"Victor Trent's newest project," He answered carefully, in case someone was listening, "I suppose, you wouldn't have heard of it since you're still a student, and wouldn't be able to get away as easily to help out… But since you happen to be here…"

I nodded, "I'd be glad to help with whatever it is. Just lead the way."

Well, things were certainly going better this time around.

He led me to the back of the plane, stopping right before the area where flight attendants usually kept food carts and the like, "There wasn't enough room to install a Gleet Bio Filter, unfortunately, so you'll have to make sure there are no… pests… around you. If you know what I mean."

I nodded, and then made a show of patting down and brushing off my cloths. The Animorphs were beneath my hologram and shield, so they were safe from detection.

When Brian seemed to be satisfied that I was free of 'Andalite Bandits', he pushed back the curtains and led me behind them.

I passed through a rather primitive hologram to find a mini-pool and a few other controllers, most dressed as flight attendants.

I nodded at the set-up, "Impressive. How many have you gotten like this?"

"Quite a few," a woman answered, "The only problem we've been having is that some people are prone to panicking when we ask them to come to the back. It's amazing how paranoid humans are."

I laughed, actually agreeing with the comment, somewhat, "So, anything in particular you need me for?"

"Man power," Brian said with a shrug, "This flight was understaffed, and some people can really pack a punch when we try to infest them. We just need you to help hold them over the pool," He laughed a little, "Makes one appreciate Hork-Bajir quite a bit, but they'd be too much of an inconvenience on this type of project."

"I'll do what I can," I answered honestly. What they didn't know was that I actually meant that I'd do what I could to put a stop to this operation.

«If you can find a way to mess them up on this flight, do it, but try to make it look like an accident and not sabotage,» Jake instructed me through thought-speech, «If they know someone's trying to stop them, they'll increase security for the important infestations, and it'll be harder to get to them.»

The instructions were obvious, but it was good to see that Jake, at least, remembered the real point of this mission.

«It makes me sick to see them infest people like this, though,» Rachel muttered.

«Don't do anything stupid, Rachel,» Jake ordered, «Remember, this is an observation mission. You'll get to wreak havoc later, I promise.»

During this conversation, Brian had gone outside and started flirting with a woman who was nearby. She didn't seem to see through the ruse at all, and when Brian suggested that they 'take it out back', she seemed more than happy to follow him.

"Aren't bathrooms on planes really small, though?" I heard her ask as she came nearer, "There won't really be enough room."

"Oh, don't worry, we won't be using the bathroom," Brian assured her, "I know the flight attendants on this flight, they'll let us use one of the back rooms."

The woman followed him behind the curtains, hesitating when the scenery changed before her.

"Wha…?"

Before she had time to wonder further, someone had grabbed her and dunked her head in the pool.

And, though it shames me to say it, that someone was me.

By the end of the flight, about half of the people on the plane had been infested, while the other half remained oblivious. I was thoroughly disgusted with myself when I regained my seat shortly before the announcement of the landing came on, and some of that disgust must have shown through my hologram, because the woman who sat across from me asked me if everything was all right.

It was the woman I'd spotted at the airport, the mother whom I thought had been starring at us. Her husband and a young girl who I assumed was their daughter sat with her, while the other girl and the two boys I'd seen with them were in the seat ahead of them. None of them had been taken to the back, and I didn't recognize them, though that didn't mean that they weren't controllers.

"I'm fine," I lied, "Just a little air sick."

"Where were you this whole flight?" She asked, not masking her concern, "You've been gone from your seat ever since that young man brought you to the back."

How observant of her.

"Oh, Brian's an old friend of mine. He knows some of the flight attendants, and thought I'd be more comfortable in their cabin."

She nodded, but something in her eyes told me she didn't believe me.

I headed towards the bathroom the minute I got off the plane, not needing to wait for luggage like the rest of the people on the flight.

The group demorphed in turns in the bathroom stalls, with Tobias and Ax morphing human afterwards. Since the bathroom was a bit busy, my hologram came in handy once again, especially considering the fact that Rachel and Cassie would look very out of place in the men's washrooms.

Luckily, no one paid attention to the 'group of janitors' gathered around the out-of-order stall.

I didn't bother asking how they'd managed to demorph and remorph out of sight while we were on the flight. The luggage compartment door had been open the whole time I was there, and there was plenty of room to hide down there.

I was usually rather skilled at changing my hologram in a way that no one noticed, even when I was at a public place. And, as the Animorphs left my hologram one by one, then left the airport to get home, I was almost certain that no one even gave us a second glance…

…Until the woman from the flight grabbed my arm.

"I think I have a few questions for you, young man."

"I'm sorry?"

"That was a fancy trick you pulled just now."

I faked confusion, "How do you mean?"

"You know," She said with a chuckle, shaking her head, "When I first saw you, I knew there was something odd about you… And seeing you manipulate a hologram as well as you did just now makes me sure that you aren't a normal human… Or even human at all."

Well. This was bad.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Don't play dumb, I…" She stopped in the middle of her grilling, and then looked around, "Okay, so this place is a little crowded for this kind of chat."

She turned towards her husband, "Will, get the kids at the new house. I'll join you soon."

He didn't ask any questions, just nodded and gathered the 'kids'—who were really all at least teenagers— to bring the luggage to a waiting taxi outside.

"Now," She said, "You and me, let's find a nice place to chat."

I knew that I needed to find a way to get out of this. I had no idea who this woman was, but she was far too observant, and had already guessed more than most people would even start to suspect.

There was something about her, though… A 'mother hen' type of feeling that made me want to trust her. So, even though everything I knew told me to stay away, I nodded, and let her lead the way to another cab.

"So, where to?" She asked when we sat down, her face sporting a cheerful, almost silly grin.

I raised an eyebrow, "I though I was following you."

"Well…" She shrugged, "I'm new around here, and I have a feeling that you know this town well enough to find the best place for our little talk."

I rolled my eyes, but told the cab driver a location I knew where we'd have privacy.

"You'd better be paying for this drive," I warned her.

She laughed, "Oh, I wouldn't dream of making a student pay, don't worry. Oh, and where are my manners? My name's Annette Evans."

"Erek King," I answered.

During the ride, I took her in. She looked like a normal human, but that didn't mean anything. _I_ looked like a normal human, too. She looked to be in her late thirties or early forties, with dark blonde hair that was cut short, and green eyes. She was dressed very casually, which I suppose was normal considering she was traveling. I doubted anyone would want to spend a long plane ride wearing an uncomfortable suite.

While I was looking at her, my processors quickly analyzed her. I couldn't get a full reading without some sort of DNA sample, but for all intent and purpose she checked out as human. Again, though, that didn't mean anything. Whenever Ax was in human morph he checked out as human, as well.

The cab drive wasn't long, and so we soon arrived at a secluded little park that was almost always empty. Luckily, it was empty today, as well.

We sat on a rusted metal bench, and Annette put a hand on my arm, strengthening the mother hen image I'd associated with her earlier.

"I realize that you probably don't want any of this made public," She said, starting right where we'd left off, "But you can trust me."

I felt like telling her everything right then and there, but held myself back. It was the most bizarre sensation I'd ever experienced. No matter how trustworthy anyone was, the only other time I'd ever revealed myself to anyone was when the Animorphs had discovered me, and I, them. That had been a fair exchange, not to mention a logical strategic move.

This situation with Annette was completely different. My processors were reacting to her as if she was another Chee, despite the fact that she was clearly organic. I couldn't find any logical explanation to this, and it took everything I had not to drop my hologram and show her what I really was.

"What about you?" I finally managed to say, "What makes you so sure you saw what you say you did? I'm sorry to say, but most normal people wouldn't be able to recognize that someone is manipulating a hologram even if it was happening right in front of their faces."

She laughed, "Well, I suppose we're both fairly special, then… Though we aren't the same…"

"You're right about that," I laughed, "We aren't the same… Although…" I glanced at her again, and just couldn't shake the feeling I had, "We're very similar, aren't we?"

Her eyes met mine, and a strange smile graced her face, "I'd have to agree. Strange, isn't it?"

**End of part 2**

**(A/N: Dun, dun, dun! So, the first major OC has made her appearance… And what's funny is that she was a very minor OC in the previous versions of this fic. Funny how things change, eh?**

**Anywho, you'll probably find out what the deal with Annette is in the next chapter, although to give you all due credit, you've probably figured it out already. The title of the fic is sort of a dead give away… So I suppose it's more of a "how" question than a "what" question.)**


	4. Chapter 3: Impossible

_(Warnings and Disclaimer still apply.)_

**Pemalite Chronicles I: Last Thing on my Mind**** (part 3)**

**Impossible**

**by: AniDragon, aka Riona-chan**

Our "talk" was quick to turn into "sitting in silence". Both Annette and I had a secret, and neither of us was willing to divulge it. Both of us wanted to know the other's secret without revealing our own.

That obviously wasn't going to happen.

"So," I broke the silence, deciding that small talk was better than no talk, "You mentioned you were new around here. What brought you to this neck of the woods?"

She stiffened at the question, but answered: "My daughter, Lily. She went missing last year, and I thought I saw her in the background during a news report filmed in this town. It wasn't much to go by, but…"

"Ah," was all I could think to reply. Can of worms, anyone?

It was then that a stray dog wandered into the clearing. It was a young German shepherd, and quite obviously hungry.

Automatically, I reached inside my bag. I always carried a bit of beef jerky with me, since I was particularly fond of picking up and feeding strays like this. When the Pemalites were wiped out, the Chee preserved their essence by melding it with wolves. That union is what created dogs. Every time I looked into a dog's eyes, I could see a Pemalite soul behind them.

"C'mere, boy," I beckoned.

The dog hesitated when he got near me—a normal reaction, since he wasn't able to detect any sent on me—but hunger took over and he let me feed him.

"Good boy," I said as I pet his head, "You must have been hungry."

"Do you like dogs?"

I jumped at the sound of Annette's voice. I'd forgotten she was there.

There it was again. Before today, I'd never forgotten anything before. How did I manage to forget two things in one day? I'd have to run a full system scan when I got back home.

"Yes," I answered her, "Quite a bit, actually. You?"

"Love them," She answered, and leaned over me to scratch the dog behind the ear, "They're almost like family to me."

She paused a moment later, a pensive look on her face. She looked at me with mild shock on her face.

"I _knew_ something in the air smelled strangely. Erek, you don't have a scent."

…

What?

How in the _world_ had she noticed that?

It was times like this that holograms really came in handy. Most of the time, our holograms were programmed to react to our "moods", but it was possible to change the programming so that the expressions weren't automatic. I'd luckily thought to change the setting once I'd decided to discuss things with Annette. If I hadn't, my face would have betrayed me.

"Thanks," I answered, "I like to keep myself clean. Still, I fail to see what that has to do with anything."

She raised an eyebrow, not buying my act, "No amount of soap and water can completely take away someone's scent. You… You aren't even organic, are you? I suppose that explains the hologram…"

"I think this conversation has gone on long enough," I interrupted, standing up. I glared at her hard. I couldn't hurt her, but she didn't know that, "What in the world are you? No human can smell that well, no human can notice someone manipulating holograms. You aren't human. There's no way you can be hu…"

"You're right."

I stopped, shocked at the bluntness of her response.

"Neither of us are human," She continued, "You're some kind of android, or advanced machine, and I'm a creature who's only disguised as a human. I think we'll step on each other's toes a lot less if we can just be honest with each other, as blunt as the truth may be. Don't you agree?"

She was right, of course. I nodded and sat back down. The German shepherd licked my hand, glad that the ruckus was over, and I scratched him behind the ear. I should take him home; he looked like he really needed some love.

"So what are you?" I asked her.

"An alien, I suppose you could say," She answered, "Although that's not entirely right… I was born and raised on Earth, though my ancestors did come from another planet."

"Andalite?" I guessed, knowing I was wrong, since she'd been in human guise for longer than two hours. Still, it was the first race that came to mind when I thought of morphing or shapeshifting ability.

"No, but good guess," She answered, "You're well informed. Andalites are the leading race in terms of morphing technology, though my own race isn't exactly on the charts. We like to keep quiet. Our own morphing technology, if you could call it that is very different than the Andalites'. Long ago, when we began living among humans, we changed out own genetic coding so that we could change at will between our true form, and a human form. Both forms are passed down genetically, so even if a child is born human – which will happen if the mother is in human form during the birth – they'll have the ability to shapeshift into their true form once they learn how."

I only let a bit of my shock show on my face, though she wasn't paying attention to my expression. The technology to do what she was describing was incredibly advanced. It was far beyond Andalite morphing technology.

"Sonia and Lily are half human, mind you," She continued, oblivious to my thoughts, "They don't know about their other roots yet, though I'll be telling Sonia when she's old enough to understand. Sandra and the twins found out when they were just kids, but my first husband was a Pemalite as well, so they're pure-bloods… Instincts kicked in faster for them, I suppose."

It took me a moment to register the last bit of what she said. The name 'Pemalite' had left her lips so casually, so nonchalantly, that I was sure I'd misheard. Not to mention the fact that it was _impossible_ for her to even know the name of a race that died out before the Great Pyramids were built.

At the same time, I knew that I hadn't misheard. I couldn't mishear; I was much too advanced for that, thank you very much. As this knowledge sunk in, I noticed, belatedly, that a tear had slid down my holograms cheek.

_When did I switch that setting back to detect my mood?_

It didn't matter when I'd changed it back, because what she'd said had just turned my entire life upside down.

"Erek?" She'd stopped when she'd noticed the tear, "What's wrong?"

_What's wrong?_ I wanted to shout, _You just told me that your from the race that created me. You should be dead. You should never even have been born. How did you survive the Howlers' plague?_

But this explained a lot, didn't it? The instinct to trust her, the mother hen feelings I'd gotten, the advanced technology she was describing… And why she seemed so Chee-like…

I stood up again and started pacing. Were my processors acting up again? They'd already done some strange things today, so maybe I _did_ mishear.

Or maybe it was a trick. Was this Ellimist, or Crayak? Yes, that was the most logical conclusion. Ellimist created the Pemalites, and Crayak sent the Howlers to destroy them. Both of them had toyed with me in the past, and now it was happening again.

"I almost believed you…" I muttered.

"What do you mean?" Annette stood up as well, putting her hand on my arm again, "Erek, what is it?"

"I almost believed that you really are a Pemalite," I shook my head, "But it's all a trick, isn't it? Because you _can't_ be a Pemalite! This is… But answer me this, is this one of Ellimist's tricks, or Crayak's?"

"Why would I want to trick you?" She demanded, "I thought we agreed that we'd be honest with each other, so why would I turn around and lie to you?"

"I don't know," I admitted, "Because that's how they work, isn't it? I've dealt with both of them enough times to know that trickery isn't beneath them."

She crossed her arms in front of her, giving me an annoyed look, "You aren't making any sense. I have no reason to try and trick you. You seemed fine with the idea that I'm not human, so why did the name of my race throw you off so much?"

"Because the Pemalites died out _ages_ ago," I explained, trying to remain calm, but failing miserably, "They're extinct, gone, wiped out. I had to watch them die, one by one! So you can't be one of them. It's… impossible."

This, apparently, was news to her.

"Died out?" Her voice was almost a whisper, and her eyes were wide, "How… When?"

If this was an act, it was a convincing one.

I was uncomfortable sharing the information, but if this _was_ a trick by Ellimist or Crayak, I wouldn't be telling them anything they didn't already know. And if it wasn't… Well, I didn't know how that was even possible, but I wanted to get to bottom of this.

"2956 B.C.E. is when the last Pemalite died, or so I thought," I explained, "They were attacked on our home planet by a race called the Howlers. We managed to escape, and made our way to Earth, but… The Howlers had released a plague, which finished off the few Pemalites who had escaped. We… We managed to save their memory… We created dogs by melding their essence with wolves. But that's it. Just a memory."

Annette shook her head in what seemed to be disbelief, "That's horrible… That a race could be so destructive… But it explains a lot, in a way…"

"How did your ancestors survive that attack?" I asked her, determined to make sense of the situation.

"They…" She scrunched her eyebrows together in thought for a moment, "If I remember my history right, then they wouldn't have even been on the planet when the attack happened. Their ship had come to Earth thousands of years before it."

And then I understood. It became so obvious that I wondered why I had never even thought of the possibility before.

The reason the Pemalites had fled to Earth instead of some other planet was because they had visited the planet roughly fifty thousand years before the Howler attack. If what Annette said was true, then some of those Pemalites must have stayed behind.

And if that group of Pemalites survived, it suddenly seemed very possible – probable even – that there were other colonies on other planets. They had visited so many in the past, all over the galaxy.

There was a buzzing in my head as I tried to deal with this knowledge. I was overwhelmed. Everything I thought I had known about my creators was swirling around my circuits, which were telling me that Annette was speaking the truth, even though I barely dared to believe it.

"I think…" I spoke slowly, "You need to come with me. You need to explain this to the others."

"Others?" She asked, puzzled, "Others like you, you mean? Other Androids?"

"That's right," I said, nodding, "To the other Chee."

The word seemed to make her understand, "Friend?" She asked, smiling, "We built you, didn't we?"

I nodded, "We were made to be toys, originally. But, we grew to be companions over time… And then we became remnants… We survived the plague – It couldn't hurt a machine, of course – and lived on when the Pemalites couldn't."

A sad look crossed Annette's face, and she put her arms around me comfortingly, "You don't have to live on alone, anymore…"

I didn't know how the rest of the Chee would react to Annette and the knowledge she brought, but right now, it didn't matter. For the first time in thousands of years, I felt like I had just come home.

**End of Part 3**

**(A/N: WAY too much melodrama in this chapter, I think, but it needed to be done. Erek might be out of character… But the situation's pretty unique, too. Meh, I'll let you all be the judge of that, I guess.**

**There **_**will**_** be an explanation for Erek's systems acting up, by the way. I didn't just include it to cover plot holes. :P)**


End file.
